I took the smiles as akin to nervous laughter. We are socially conditioned to say “fine” even when things aren’t. Like that.
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Audience numbers went up more than 500k after the incident. Hmmmm…
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And an indication of why the civility is lacking…media attempting to explain the behavior. Discussions for pages on how the trigging ‘why’ explains the behavior. Back and forth.
We are simply no longer able to make simple statements As.A.Group. and stand by that statement…something along the lines of ‘WS was wrong, he assaulted CR’. There end of statement. No more explaining or discussion needed.
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Still well below 2020 numbers
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Absolutely not staged. Will Smith’s career and image is badly damaged. He does this to please the academy or gain more viewership for the Oscars, the same night he is up for an academy award. No way in … he slaps Chris and then continues to shout the F word as part of a skit. No way… I wouldn’t be surprised if he checks into rehab or at least anger management to try to salvage his image and what is left of his career…
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…and didn’t use proper English/grammar - for a guy who supposedly could have gotten into MIT 
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And really, a “stunt” to bring attention on themselves during SOMEONE ELSE’s award announcement?!?!
If that were true, I’d think even less of the both of them than I already do.
Here is the actual story behind the MIT legend…
“While it has been widely reported that Smith turned down a scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he never applied to college because he “wanted to rap.” Smith says he was admitted to a “pre-engineering [summer] program” at MIT for high school students, but he did not attend.According to Smith, “My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college.”
He was accepted to a HS Summer program at MIT (unconfirmed) that he never attended and he never applied to colleges.
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Will Smith engaged in antisocial behavior. Period. A tasteless joke is one thing. Antisocial behavior should NEVER be accepted or condoned.
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Who is condoning it?
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Otherwise he would have been escorted out of the Dolby Theatre.
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How?
In addition to the above, I’ll add Janet Hubert (Aunt Viv #1) who said in her now-deleted IG post “So PROUD OF YOU! Yes, there is only so much one can take…sometimes you have to slap back. Celebrate the win…nothing else matters. Both actions were incorrect but Chris didn’t need to go there. Met him once…. it was enough for me…. very mean spirited.
“I cannot tell you how many times I have wanted to slap the mess out of so many folks who have disrespected me. Will stood up for his wife, Chris Rock is always disrespecting Black women. Mean spirited hides behind comedy. BULL.”
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Well, here’s one quote from actress Tiffany Haddish:
“the slap was the most beautiful thing I have seen, because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives,” and she saw — and again a quote — “a Black man stand up for his wife.” Tiffany Haddish Calls Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock 'Beautiful Thing' - Variety
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I suspect that with very few exceptions anyone else approaching the stage and slapping the host would have been taken out by force if necessary.
So how…
The same way you would remove anyone posing a violent threat to others.
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Agree, that kind of behavior should never be accepted or condoned.
But even on this thread, someone said “One wouldn’t have happened without the other.”
Chris Rock makes a joke that you feel disrespected your family and you think that gives you the right to slap him and potentially seriously injure him. No justification for that behavior whatsoever, no matter what someone says that you don’t like. Chris Rock is the victim here , not Will Smith.
Do better, model better behavior to young men. Young guys are out there pulling guns on each other because they feel disrespected. A lovely young woman in our area got killed recently because someone in a club got upset about a spilled drink, the disagreement spilled out into the street and she was caught in the crossfire. It is out of control.
I don’t see anything to be gained by putting him in jail for assault but he needs some consequences. Maybe he can put some of his money into programs for young men. And hope he gets some help with his anger issues.
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Sure, but the ratings still climbed. Testament to the effect: we’re talking about it on CC!
The Academy may not have known, but they sure weren’t objecting. Will had plenty of time to make his acceptance speech. If you or I had done this, we would have been yanked out of the auditorium, just for starters. Will, however, got one of the biggest awards that night and had loads of time to boast about it.
Like I said, I don’t know. But things don’t appear to be quite fresh in the land of Hamlet…
Our Latin friends used to say res ipsa loquitor.
I am still not sure how Chris dissed anyone. Is there any proof whatsoever he knew about Jada Pinkett’s alopecia? If there is, I am happy to withdraw this post.
Perhaps Will Smith being allowed to slap Chris Rock without any real repercussions has basically made this an acceptable response. I mean doesn’t it send a message that physical violence is acceptable when someone “disrespects” you? Not to everyone obviously, but to some I think that’s exactly the message it sends.
“Look, Will Smith didn’t like what Chris Rock said and he handled it and nothing happened.”
The reality is some violence these days is driven by retaliation like this. It’s already happening and events like this just basically condone that behavior.
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I dd, in fact say that one would not have happened without the other. Is that not true?
I found this piece in the NYT interesting.
She concludes the piece by noting: “An imperviousness to criticism and ridicule is a necessity for celebrities or anyone in the public eye. But no matter how thick your skin is or with how much wealth, fame and power you are cosseted, being the butt of a joke isn’t fun. Sometimes, it is intolerable. When you are constantly a target — of jokes, insults, incivility and worse — as most Black women are, the skin we’ve spent a lifetime thickening can come apart. We’re only human, and so, too, are the people who love us.”
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The problem is if we look at this it’s an escalation to physical violence. If one is verbally “disrespected” then perhaps a more appropriate response would be a verbal “smackdown”.
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